not be able to gain popular support from young workers and college students, losing many left-leaning supporters to the Communists. When Nazi Germany started World War II, the SPA firmly said that they did not want the United States to participate in the war. The relationships between YPSL and YCL was hurt by this, being that YCL wanted to join the war. The YCL drew strength from both liberals and socialist alike, many supporters were convinced that Europe needed help to defeat the fascist state of Nazi Germany. Despite socialist opposition, both AYC and ASU both supported YCL in its foreign policies regarding the fascist regime of Nazi Germany. By the end of the 1939, YCL used much its time attacking YPSL. The Cold War era By 1952, the Socialist Party's YPSL had 134 members, 62 of which had been recruited that year. The Independent Socialist League (ISL) affiliated Socialist Youth League (SYL) had been making overtures to YPSL. The mother party, Socialist Party of America, told YPSL it could not have contact with the "totalitarian" organizations of SYL or ISL, although YPSL ignored this, and the relationship between YPSL and its mother party worsened. In 1953, the Socialist Party cut off money to YPSL, and then suspended YPSL's New York branch, which was the one with the most contact with SYL (and the ISL). In August, the party including the "suspended" members voted to disaffiliate with its mother party. In February 1954, the Young People's Socialist League merged with SYL to form the Young Socialist League. The party revived YPSL after the split but by 1958. By that time the Socialist Party had merged with the Social Democratic Federation and had become the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation. This was part of a strategy favored by David McReynolds and others to merge all the democratic socialist groups into one organization. Max Shachtman of the ISL was receptive to this idea and, after much controversy, the ISL agreed to disband, turn over its assets to the SP-SDF and its members joined the individually. The YSL mergerd with the YPSL organizationally at a convention in August 1958.Alexander, Robert "Schisms and unifications in the American Old Left" Labor History vol. 14 Fall 1973 p.543 YPSL in the 1960s The YPSL grew quickly in the early 1960s, from 300 members in 1960 to over 800 in 1962. Two of its important leaders were Tom